


The Chain

by sssammich



Category: Gossip Girl RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Complete, F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-24
Updated: 2009-01-24
Packaged: 2017-11-20 19:12:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/588707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssammich/pseuds/sssammich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started with a door and a chain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Ingrid Michaelson’s song, "The Chain" and the Ingrid Michaelson/Sara Bareilles collaboration, "Winter Song".

_So glide away and so be healed_

_and promise not to promise anymore_

_and if you come around again then I will take,_

_then I will take the chain from off the door_.

– The Chain, Ingrid Michaelson

 

_This is my winter song._

_December never felt so wrong,_

_cause youre not where you belong;_

_inside my arms._

– Winter Song, Ingrid Michaelson & Sara Bareilles

 

\--

 

Reading a tattered book in the backseat of a minivan, Blake Lively waited until she and her parents arrived at their new apartment. See, her family was nomadic in nature. They could not find satisfaction in one place. She knew that everything was temporary, so she never tried to form lasting relationships with those she met over the years. She knew it even early on in life. She didn’t blame anybody. It would be nice, she figured, but she didn’t know anything else. Moving away and never staying in one place was how her family functioned. She saw more pavement and horizons than faces and names of people. Blake would wonder at times, looking back on all the traveling and moving, if her parents were hiding from something, from anything. If they wanted to escape to somewhere else. If they thought that since happiness was fleeting, they’d beat it to the punch.

 

After settling into their new home, apartment 4C, Blake decided to venture off to see if there would be anybody that would want to play with her, even just for now. After overhearing her parents talk about the neighbors with a child Blake’s age across the hall, the adventurous nine year old girl decided to take matters into her own hands and invite the girl across the hall to play with her. Maybe she’d even remember her when she grows up. She is, after all, at that time when she could if she really wanted to.

 

She fisted her right hand and knocked, waiting for an answer. She waited five Mississippis before knocking again. She was on her way to the next five when she heard muffled sounds coming from the other side of the door. Her raised arm slowly, cautiously, fell to her side and anticipated the face of a parent asking what she was doing at their doorstep. Instead, however, she was met by expressive brown eyes that looked up at her from a small space between the door and the wall. The girl was just slightly shorter than Blake with brown hair that was just a tinge darker than her expressive brown eyes. She had a slight pout and a fairer complexion in comparison to Blake’s tanned skin. Blake smiled.

 

“Hi.”

 

“Hi.”

 

“I’m your new neighbor.”

 

“Hi, new neighbor,” the little girl with the expressive brown eyes said.

 

“I’m Blake.”

 

“I’m…” she started, looking back at something inside before facing Blake again. “Leighton. I’m Leighton.”

 

Blake furrowed her eyebrows. “What kind of name is that?”

 

“What kind of name is Blake…for a  _girl_?” Leighton asked, offended, her expressive brown eyes no longer. Blake only shrugged her shoulders. They eyed each other for a moment before Blake finally asked what she came out there to do.

 

“Can you come out and play?”

 

“No.”

 

“Why not?” She thought it might have been because of what she said about Leighton’s name that the other girl refused. It wasn’t. Leighton sighed, the way adults should, not little nine year old girls, as her brown eyes travelled to the same spot somewhere inside of the apartment that it landed on moments earlier. Leighton looked back at Blake.

 

“My mom is sleeping. No one will be watching me. Plus, I can’t reach the chain on our door.” She looked up and pointed with her eyes that there was a faded gold chain that stopped the door from opening wider. Blake followed Leighton’s gaze and saw that there was, indeed, a highly placed chain on the door. One that made it pretty much impossible to make a playmate out of the smaller girl in front of her.

 

“Oh, okay. Uh, I guess I’ll see you around.”

 

She offered a slight smile before swiftly turning around to travel back the nine steps it took for her to walk from her doorstep to Leighton’s.  On her fourth and a half step, Blake heard a voice.

 

“Wait!”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I don’t have anyone else to play with,” the voice said softly, almost embarrassed. Her expressive brown eyes were cast down as her right hand fiddled with the chipping paint off the door, the left twisting the door knob from the inside.

 

The fourth and a half step made its way back to the fourth, then the third, then the second, then the first until she was facing the other girl.

 

“Then I’ll play with you here,” Blake said presenting an identical smile from earlier.

 

“Really?” The downcast eyes glanced up with a smile before it reached her small, nine year old lips.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Blake’s only response to Leighton’s gratitude was to take a seat by the door, gesturing for the girl with the expressive brown eyes to follow suit. She did.

 

Over the following weeks, Blake and Leighton would play by the brunette’s doorway, with the limited space made available by the faded gold chain that held firm. In the beginning, Blake wanted Leighton to ask her mom to open the door for her, but Leighton always hesitated. She would turn away from Blake’s pleading, hopeful gaze and stare at what Blake assumed, to be where Leighton’s mother slept. It wasn’t until after a month or so since they met that Leighton explained to her new friend that her mother worked late shifts as a waitress in a diner a couple of miles from their apartment building. She did not want to disturb her mother, so she would rather play by the chained door than wake her mother from what little rest she got. Blake looked at Leighton who could hardly return the gaze.

 

 Leighton was lying.

 

Her expressive brown eyes were as honest as nothing else that Blake had ever seen. And even she could see that Leighton didn’t want to admit this lie to her, either. But Leighton’s hesitated responses were always curt and Blake knew she couldn’t get anything out of the other girl any more than what she had been told. She soon dropped the subject knowing it wasn’t worth the trouble. She never asked after that.

 

Instead, they sat by Leighton’s door, taking their usual spots, and formed a friendship unlike any they’d ever had before. They would sit there for hours talking about what they liked to do, what they saw on the television, what they saw out their windows, and what they saw of their futures. They shared with each other hopes and dreams that form in nine year old minds. What they formed was a friendship that became a standard for the years to come, the future friendships with others.

 

They read aloud stories out of books and out of their imaginations. Blake was always animated when she talked, her eyes lighting up. Leighton would watch, from her side of the door, and feel the enthusiasm that Blake put in her every word. It was a breath of fresh air. Even through the small opening the door offered, she could feel it all. When it was the young brunette’s turn to speak her mind, there was always hesitation, securing her words to be exactly what she wanted, needed, it to say. She was thankful that Blake always looked attentive and interested. She would wonder, years later, if she truly was good at keeping the things she needed to keep or if Blake was simply playing along.

 

They were inseparable when Blake came home from school. Leighton was always already home before she got there and it made the young child wonder if her neighbor ever went to school. But she never asked about it because after Leighton told her about her mother, she didn’t want to make her angry. It was those brown expressive eyes that were so honest, it told everything, even the things that Leighton probably didn’t want Blake to know. All the young blonde had to do to know her neighbor was to look into those eyes. Leighton didn’t wear her heart on her sleeve, she wore it even closer, her emotions flashing in her eyes. The fear, the laughter, the secrets, the mirth, the hesitation, the happiness – they were all there. It would be her best and worst feature.

 

The two girls became best friends quickly, finding solace and security from each other. Even after making six other friends in the six other places that Blake’s family had lived in, this would have to be her favorite because Leighton turned out to be her favorite. And she knew that the next time she moved, Leighton would still be a favorite.

 

Unfortunately, the next time Blake moved came a lot sooner than the two expected.  Only ten months after the Livelys came into town did they end up leaving it. The news surprised Blake more than she thought it would. She had anticipated at least another six months, even a year. Instead, she was given six days to gather up all the memories she could put in her blue My Little Pony bag to take with her when it was time to leave.

 

Telling Leighton was going to be a memory she didn’t want to have. Leighton was going to be a memory she didn’t want to have. Before their last day together, nine year old Blake decided that Leighton was not going to be a memory. She would remain something present in her life. She didn’t know what she was going to do to make that happen because she was just a nine year old with a best friend she had to leave, but she’d make it work, somehow.

 

The day for Blake to leave had come and she didn’t want to face it. All the other times was fine, but she had never been more attached to anyone outside of her family as she had with Leighton. Come to think of it, Blake had grown attached to Leighton because somewhere down the line, she’d become someone irreplaceable, she’d become family.

“You’re leaving.” Leighton’s voice was neutral and quiet as she sat with her back to the wall, her right side facing Blake who was looking at her, hoping to gauge some kind of response. Her voice was soft and meek and sad. It wasn’t whiny and it wasn’t begging for anything, demanding anything. It held no malice, it held no frustration, it didn’t even hold anger. All it held was the little girl’s resignation to the fact. And that was more painful to endure than the myriad of emotions Blake had expected.

 

Blake knew Leighton would be sad, she was too. But there were emotions that her best friend had expressed she couldn’t completely understand. She wanted to, she wanted to know, but her nine year old mind just couldn’t grasp all of it as much as she tried. And that, well, that just made her feel inadequate.

 

Blake often thought how different her neighbor was from anybody she had ever met. She became an adult when it came to her emotions and she wished she knew what it meant, but she didn’t because she was only nine years old and she hadn’t lived a lot of life yet. It seemed, however, that Leighton had.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Where are you going?” she asked in a whisper, turning her head, finally looking at the blonde just outside her door.

 

“Wherever my parents want to go, I suppose.” The blonde couldn’t handle the stare that her neighbor was giving her so she placed her back on the door and leant on the doorsill, her eyes trained on her twisting hands. She couldn’t look back. It was too hard.

 

“Are you coming back?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Are you gonna come back?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“What  _do_  you know, Blake?” she asked in a frustrated tone. To Leighton, Blake was the girl who had an answer for everything, even if they were wrong. As they spent hours by her door, she could rely on Blake to make things up on the spot, to ask a question in response to a question, to speak just to fill the silence. She appreciated and needed the sound of Blake’s voice to seep into her mind and camp out. It was the one thing that made sure that she wasn’t alone. To hear such uncertainty made Leighton fearful that Blake would just turn into an old neighbor she once had, when she was young, a friendship to be locked up in the attic only to be remembered through nostalgia.

 

 _Nothing_ , she thought. She knew nothing. She didn’t even know of a lie to tell her best friend just to ease both of their minds. She sighed.

 

“I don’t know all about those grown-up stuff, but I know that it’s your birthday next week,”she said as she opened her bag full of memories and pulled out a rectangular box wrapped in paper with multicolored letters that spelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY and a bright yellow ribbon on the corner.

 

“You remembered?” Leighton’s eyes landed on the box and she could barely get the words out. She didn’t expect her best friend to remember. She didn’t expect anyone to remember, after all, her mother didn’t.

 

“I’d never forget, Leigh. I put it on my calendar that one time you told me. Anyway, I got you a gift.” The blonde slid the rectangular box sideways so it would fit through the door and watched the birthday girl carefully as her mouth opened and closed without a word coming out.

 

“What is it?” Leighton held the box as if it was something sacred, almost afraid of holding it in her small grasp. Blake rolled her pretty blue eyes, keeping the mood light.

 

“Why would I tell you? There’s no fun in that. Just open it.”

 

Inside the wrapped box was the Dr. Seuss’s book,  _Oh the Places You’ll Go!_ The birthday girl ran her hand on the cover, marveled by the bright colors, being taunted by the clear, crisp pages to be turned. Leighton looked at her best friend with a series of emotions, not knowing which one to pick. The look on her face was enough for Blake as the blonde formed a wonderful smile.

 

“It’s beautiful.”

 

“You like it?”

 

“I love it.”

 

“Are you sure?” Self-insecurity started to seep in. “I mean, I know you’re good at reading, but I saw this at the bookstore when me and my mom went and over the summer my cousin read it to me and I really liked it.” Leighton listened as her eyes gulped in the simple fact that she had a present for her birthday. A present from someone she loved and cared for. A present from her best friend. She turned the pages and skimmed over the colorful pages, awe and amazement evident on her face. She closed it and placed it back in the box before Blake’s voice interrupted her.

 

“There’s one more!”  

 

Leighton looked at her best friend questioningly only to be answered with a shrug and an excited smile.

 

The thick booklet turned out to be a map of the world with a blue and red sticker in the city that they were in.  When the birthday girl looked at Blake for answers, Blake hesitated for a little, wondering if this was a good idea after all.

 

“Okay, well, my dad helped me with that. There’s a red and blue sticker for you and me. I’m the blue and you’re the red. That’s us. All the other blue stickers are the places I’ve been to.” Leighton kept silent looking at the map that stared back at her with multiple blue dots that were scattered in several areas.

 

“What do I do with it?”

 

“Oh, uh, since I’ll be moving a lot, I’d send you a postcard or something and send it to you here so you can put a sticker to where I am. And then when you get to go somewhere, you can put a sticker to where you’re going. That way, you’d know where you are and where I am. You can put it on your wall so you can see it better and even figure out where you wanna go. Like a country in Africa or Australia or something.”

 

“I love it, Blake. Thank you.” Leighton’s smile was huge and it reached those expressive brown eyes of hers. That was thank you enough for her.

 

“Happy Birthday, Leighton.”

 

The two girls fell into a companionable silence as Leighton continued to marvel at her birthday gifts and Blake marveling at the genuine reaction that her best friend had to her birthday present. It didn’t take long before the birthday girl offered to read the book out loud and for Blake to pay close attention. After they finished reading, Leighton closed the book and they sat back in silence. A minute or so later, Leighton spoke.

 

“You know, I’ve always liked your name. Even for a girl.” Blake smiled her thanks.

 

“I’ve always liked yours too.”

 

More silence.

 

Blake’s mother swung their door open and told her that they would have to leave in a couple of minutes and that she needed to say goodbye. Leighton didn’t bother look at Blake as she looked at her mother. Instead, she fixed her eyes at the unfolded map and the blue and red stickers.

 

“I promise to visit, Leighton,” she offered, holding up her pinky, hoping that this would be some kind of reassurance for either of them. Blake knew about promises. She’d made a lot in her short life. She knew she had to promise to keep in touch with her old friends, to remember them, to make sure that she got remembered. Even at nine years old she knew the value of it – how it kept people from changing, how it kept her to stay as she was when she made the promise. This was one of her tokens to make sure that Leighton doesn’t become a memory; doesn’t change.

 

The birthday girl, however, didn’t move or say a word for what felt like a million years to a nine year old.

 

“No,” she said, “don’t promise. Just do it.”

 

“But if I don’t promise, I might not come back. How would you know if I’ll really come back?” If her only reassurance was denied, she didn’t know what she would do.

 

“Because the Earth is round, Blake. See?” she said, holding the map to prove her point. She was only met with a confused face.

 

“I don’t get it.”

 

“It’s a circle, Blake. You end up where you started,” she said as if it was the most logical thing in the world and that she should have known.

 

“Oh, okay.” Truth be told, Blake didn’t understand. She didn’t know what circles and rounds and Earth had to do with anything, but she’d accept and believe and take whatever Leighton was telling her because that’s all she could have.

 

“I promise not to promise. I’ll just come back.” If she couldn’t promise, she’d promise not to promise.

 

Leighton glanced at her before looking back down to her birthday gifts. Neither said a word after that, though. They were nine year olds. What did they know? Promises were different to children. And however way either of them felt, they were still children that didn’t know much of anything, relying on those older than them to tell them how the world worked.

 

Eventually, Blake’s dad came out with a duffel bag and he smiled gently at Blake, telling her that it was time to go. Blake nodded without a trace of emotion in her face and he knew that it was starting to get to the point where she was learning, slowly, the consequences and repercussions of all the moving and leaving and settling. He only offered a hand on her head and a small smile only fathers could give before turning toward the staircase. He left the two girls alone.

 

Blake looked at the birthday girl, her best friend, her neighbor and gave the most sincere apology her nine year old self could muster without the use of words. She wasn’t going to say goodbye. Goodbyes would defeat the purpose of keeping Leighton away from being just a memory. Goodbyes wouldn’t work for children. Children didn’t know much, right? So goodbyes wouldn’t mean much, either.

 

“Here,” Blake said and she stuck her hand out for the birthday girl to take. Leighton set her gifts down and nine – almost ten – year old Leighton took the hand and shook it, smiling.

 

That was promise enough.

 f


	2. Part Two

Blake Lively, stepped out of the taxicab and held her breath before looking up at her old apartment building nine years ago. She had missed the place, often wondering about the different lives that now took residence there. Even after all this time and five other sets of migration by her nomadic family, she remembered the apartment building best. Probably because it housed on the fourth floor someone really important.

 

Walking to the entrance door, she hesitated for a moment. She didn’t know how this was going to work. It had been nine years since she had seen Leighton last. They’d kept in touch religiously, upholding as much of the non-promise each girl made to herself. But somewhere along puberty and school and distance that the non-promise started getting pushed back to the very attic she didn’t want it stored in.

 

So it was very much acceptable for Blake to worry and wonder and wish that she had thought about this a little bit more thoroughly.

 

It didn’t matter now, though. Blake hadn’t seen her old best friend in nine years. She’d made a lot of mistakes before, a lot of promises she broke both with purpose and without. But this particular one, she would regret for a while.

 

Reaching the small lobby area, she found that changes had been made. There were chairs out in the small lobby, plants in corners and an elevator had been installed. At first, she wasn’t sure if this was the right place, but it still had that old familiar mixture of smells of old wood and the city. Taking the elevator, she pushed the button for the fourth floor and waited patiently.

 

The elevator reached its destination and she tentatively walked out into the hallway. The elevator doors closed with a ‘ding’ and she looked back, almost wondering if she should have gotten out. Walking towards 4D, she first looked to her right to see her old apartment door. She didn’t know if it was vacant, if it housed good people, if they offered a good kind of neighbor-ship with her old best friend, Leighton.

 

Reaching the ragged, yet somewhat clean, welcome mat in front of door 4D, she braced herself for an impromptu reunion. She held her hand up before balling it into a fist. She held it up in the air for a good while before finally knocking. It took a moment for a response to come from the other side of the door, and she almost prefered that nobody was going to be home so she’d take that as a sign that it was a bad idea from the very beginning and can go back to her life as it was.

 

Except really, life as it was had just been a little less colorful and a little less vibrant ever since she left almost a decade ago.

 

There was some commotion behind the door so she stood straighter, taller, and waited until the door opened.

 

“Hi,” Blake said through a smile after seeing Leighton behind the faded gold chain that held the door together, that held them apart.

 

“Hi.” Leighton returned the smile before closing the door only to open it again, this time without the chain, swinging it wider to see, without restraints of wooden slabs and golden chains, what has become of her best friend, Blake.

 

An odd feeling positioned itself on her chest as she heard, for the first time in her kept memories (because all of her memories with Leighton were kept and looked at regularly), the sound of the door being unchanged.

 

What years did to a person; to a best friend. They were eighteen now and Leighton had finally matured into her body. Blake knew she was destined to grow out of those knobby knees and scrawny stature. But some things stayed the same, like the dimples that formed when the young brunette smiled. Goodness, her smile hadn’t changed. It was still something Blake always kept close in her My Little Pony bag, even after nine years.

 

“What’re you doing back here? Are your…parents here for a visit with you?” Leighton asked looking at the blonde who stayed rooted where she was before slowly peeking out of her own door and into the hallway.

 

“No, no parents. Just me.”

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Leighton went back to her position to stand by the door, looking back at her old neighbor. She stared at Blake and blinked a couple of times, unbelieving, before waiting to see if the blonde had anything to say.

 

Taking the cue from Leighton’s still-expressive brown eyes, she gave a crooked smile before speaking.

 

“So I’m in town for tonight for some family stuff my parents wanted me to go to. I wasn’t sure if you were still living here, but, uh, I thought I’d try and visit an old friend, you know?”

 

Leighton nodded, with a small smile; being courteous. Truth was, she didn’t know. There were no old friends, really, to speak of. Save, perhaps, the girl – now young woman – that stood on her welcome mat.

 

“Well, It’s good to see you,” Blake offered genuinely, a smile on her lips.

 

 “It’s good to see you, too.” Leighton nodded, this time, with a bigger smile than earlier.

 

“Hey, why don’t we hang out and spend the night out on the town before I go. I’m only here for tonight, basically, so I was thinking we’d hang out and catch up, yeah?” The tall blonde offered, hopeful to be able to share her fleeting time with her old best friend. They were eighteen now, see, so they were able to do things that adults could and Blake found this to be a good opportunity to seize.

 

As Leighton shifted, Blake was transported back to the first day they met when Leighton looked back to the same spot she had looked at all those years ago. It was still the same, even after nine long years. She was still locked up, forbidden to do anything. She didn’t know how Leighton dealt with it, but she did. She may have been tall enough to finally reach the chain, but it didn’t mean anything if she couldn’t open the door and leave. In Blake’s mind, nothing had changed and that made her heart go out to her best friend.

 

“I can’t because my Mom is slee-” she started, but the tall blonde standing on the welcome mat interrupted her.

 

“No, no that’s okay. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just...it’s fine. We’ll just hang out here.”

 

“Blake…”

 

“Leighton.” The young brunette tipped her head down, breathing in some form of confidence before looking up at Blake.  

 

“You don’t mind?”

 

Blake didn’t say anything. She just smiled wide and sat down on her usual spot outside Leighton’s door. She pushed the door back slightly so her back could lean against the doorsill. Leighton mirrored her action and leaned back on the other side so they were facing each other with their legs beside the other girl. They laughed a little and situated themselves a little bit more before they settled back into a quiet peace that they seem to enjoy. After a couple of moments under the hallway light and the small glow emanating from a living room lamp, Blake looked at Leighton.

 

“You still have that map I gave you?”

 

“Yeah, it’s on my wall.” More silence. “You travel to any more places I should know about?”

 

“No, not really.”

 

“Are you leaving again?”

 

“Yeah…” The young brunette nodded as she inspected her clasped hands.

 

“Where are you going this time, Blake?”

 

“Somewhere westward for school.”

 

“When?”

 

“Tomorrow, actually.”

 

“You’ll visit during the breaks?”

 

“Yeah. Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, summer vacation. See? I have all the seasons covered.” She said this with a laugh, hoping to ease the growing tension that was starting to infiltrate their place of peace as Leighton continued to ask Blake questions.

 

But there were no more questions after that about Blake’s departure. Rather, Leighton asked more about what the young blonde in front of her had been doing for the last decade. It filled the silent emptiness that Leighton had experienced ever since her best friend’s first departure nine years ago. She had felt alone and she wanted nothing more than to hear her old neighbor’s voice fill in the void. It was a good distraction, albeit a temporary one.

 

Leighton knew, you see. She knew that they were on two different parts of their lives and that Blake would leave her again with nothing but hope that she would at least come back. She wouldn’t hold the young woman to the promises that she made about visiting. She knew better not to let this hopeful, unrealistic dream to pervade in her mind. It had taken her two years out of the nine to accept all of this and she would be damned if that resolve would crumble again just for a late night visit that lasted only hours.

 

Her nine – almost ten – year old heart had broken and she didn’t even know about it. It was just a heavy weight on her chest and she often questioned where the heaviness came from. She didn’t learn any better until she saw something on television that resembled what she had gone through. Ever since then, there would be an intense weight on her chest, the cause of the heavy feeling coming from the blonde girl that left her once upon a time ago.

 

Even so. There was no doubt in her mind that her heart would break again and she had no choice but to nurse it back to some form of acceptable health. She’d take what she could get. She did, after all, loved the young woman with everything she had to offer: her fragile, fist-sized heart that skipped beats every time Blake would permeate in her head. Leighton would swear, some years later, that she was close to a heart attack because of it.

 

Through the hallway window, the two saw how the sun began to illuminate the outside world. Both women knew, after chatting and conversing for hours, that it was time to end this chapter of their young lives hoping that somewhere down the line, a chapter or two would be written with the two of them in it. It was worth a shot. Fate could sometimes write wonderful stories. They were just trusting that perhaps it would write them a good one, too.

 

“Thanks for spending your last night here with me. I know you’re tired and probably have other things to do, other people to see.”

 

“Nope. There was nothing else I would have done. I wouldn’t have anybody else spend it with but you. I can just, you know, sleep in the car or something. Not a big deal at all,” she said, waving her hand to dismiss the idea. Leighton expressed her gratitude with one of her dimpled smiles. The one that Blake would never tire of even after all this time.

 

The two women raised themselves up from the floor and dusted their clothes of the dirt. Facing each other, Blake took a small step forward and put her hand on the young brunette’s forearm wondering which action she should take. Expressive brown eyes widened slightly not fully knowing what was to happen next. Blake saw the fear and confusion in those expressive brown eyes and knew she may have stepped an inch too far.

 

She retracted her hand from Leighton’s forearm and took her distance.

 

The thing was, Blake knew they were at two different parts of their lives and whatever happened now could ruin any such future that they may have as friends – or otherwise. And Blake knew that she would want her old neighbor to be part of the rest of her life, however way she would fit.

 

They may be 18 now and deemed as adults in the real world, but in their world with just the two of them, they reverted back to their 9 year old selves. The time when they knew just enough about friendships and forevers and how the two, without fear of what adulthood would make of them, were infinitely tied together like strings on shoes.

 

“I’ve missed you, you know,” the blonde said softly looking at her with a smile that didn’t quite reach those ocean blue orbs of hers.

 

Leighton only nodded. Truth was, she knew because she’d missed her, too.

 

They weren’t going to say goodbye to each other, not this time, not any time. It wasn’t because they were children again, but because they have always loved one another and love is never having to say goodbye. Love is never having to say anything. And they don’t.

 

“I promise to come back, Leigh.” The young brunette closed her eyes and shook her head.

 

“No, no. Don’t promise me that you will. Just do.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Blake then placed her hand out waiting for Leighton to shake it, like they did all those years ago. When the brunette finally did, she produced a shy smile, one that was almost afraid to come out of the shadows savoring what little physical interaction they shared. Maybe when they were older than 18 year olds that still held nine year old dreams, things would be different.

 

The brunette’s shy smile quickly turned into something brighter than the rising sun outside their window when Blake turned over the hand she held and kissed it.


	3. Part Three

Leighton’s mother passed away. She knew that it was time to get out of there.

 

After the last two and a half decades of her life had been spent nursing a toxic relationship she had with her mother, she was finally able to taste some form of independence. Her mother, she would admit, was not an inherently bad woman. She had her faults, but all women did, even Leighton knew that.

 

Her mother just wasn’t good at being, well, a mother. And that’s where she had failed Leighton. Instead of being taken care of, she did the caring; instead of learning from example, she learned by herself from what little outside influences were available to her. All Leighton knew was who her mother was – a woman that had been misguided in her youth and made the mistake of carrying a child she couldn’t love and cherish as all mothers were supposed to do.

 

But there was no point in blaming the deceased woman now.

 

She was about two decades late, but Leighton would start over again and teach herself to be exactly what she missed on growing up. She’d rebuild herself to the person that her mother never was. She’d be a good woman, you see. And somewhere down the line if and when the situation arises, she’d be a damn good mother, too. One that would let her children play with the neighbors so her little girl or little boy would find their own best friends. Yeah, she’d be better.

 

For now, though, things just felt wrong and out of place. She needed to get it back in order if she had any real chance of finding herself. No matter how many people passed her in her life, they were all just blurred nameless faces that didn’t really hold any position in her life. Leighton was alone. She didn’t want to admit it because even when she was young, she at least had her mother, but now, now that her mother was gone, she was alone.

 

She needed to heal.

 

So Leighton had packed all her things and left it in storage somewhere downtown. She’d go back to it, eventually. When she came back. She didn’t know when that was, but she’d figure it out. Perhaps when her feet walked her back to where she started. The Earth, after all, is round.

 

Having just picked up the last box left on the living room floor, there was a knock at the door. She sighed, placed the box back down and opened the door. Chain still intact, she found the one person she had always wanted to see by this doorway. Blake.

 

“Hi.”

 

“Hi.”

 

“Can I come in?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

So Leighton closed the door again and unhinged the chain from off the door. She slowly opened the door to make room for Blake’s entry. The taller woman’s eyes never looked away.

 

“I’m sorry about your mother, Leighton.” Blake lunged forward and engulfed the brunette in a comforting hug. Leighton closed her eyes and savored the warm body that embraced her. They stayed that way for a little while longer before the taller woman pulled herself back just enough to look at those expressive brown eyes. In the meantime, Leighton continued to revel in the comforting touch and feel of the other woman.

 

She’d always used Blake’s voice as some sign that she wasn’t alone. She’d used it when she was younger and this time, it was no different. However, it was in the taller woman’s touch did she truly realize that even as she braved through her mother’s failing health, her mother’s dying day, and her mother’s small, quiet funeral, Leighton wasn’t alone.

 

“Thanks.” The brunette kept her eyes low as they stepped apart from one another.

 

“And I’m sorry I wasn’t there at the funeral. I…didn’t hear about it until after.” Blake’s hands glided from Leighton’s back forward to her arms. The shorter woman fought the urge to shiver under the other woman’s hands. They had never been physical, see, and Leighton was basing it off of what happened to her mother.

 

“It’s okay. I didn’t tell very many people.”

 

“But I thought…I thought maybe you’d at least tell me.” Blake didn’t have the right to sound hurt, as if it was her right to know the things that happened to Leighton. But she  _was_  hurt. Because she’d always kept Leighton anything but a distant memory. She thought, perhaps, Leighton would show her the same courtesy.

 

“I…I wanted to, but I just couldn’t.” The tall blonde couldn’t blame Leighton. In the brunette’s expressive eyes showed fear and loss. It didn’t dawn on Blake until that moment that the woman standing before her, though 24 years old, was now an orphan. She flashed back to her parents who finally decided to take a permanent pit stop in a small town in North Carolina, of all places. But she knew where her parents were. She knew that they were enjoying the Carolinian weather and drinking sweet tea. But for Leighton, well, that was just a different story altogether.

 

“I understand.”

 

Blake finally had a chance to look around and saw how completely bare the apartment was. Her blue eyes traveled all over the apartment before landing back on her old neighbor’s sullen face. “…Wow, your apartment is...empty,” she said lamely, not really knowing how else to react.

 

“Yeah…I was actually about to head out. Help me with that box as I lock up?” Leighton asked as she carried a small bag on her shoulders.

 

“Sure, yeah.” The young blonde was too surprised to say anything else. They rode the elevator silently together with Blake holding onto the small box that she was asked to carry as Leighton carried the slung bag over her shoulder. They reached the first floor and the elevator doors opened. The small brunette began walking out of the car when she heard her old neighbor’s voice echo in the lobby.

 

“You’re leaving,” Blake said as she stood just a step out of the elevator. Leighton turned around.

 

“I am.”

 

“Where are you going?” The tall blonde finally walked up to where her best friend had stopped.

 

“Wherever my feet take me, I guess.” After Leighton had said it, she began walking and continued her way towards the parked car outside the lobby doors. Blake hadn’t much of a choice but to follow.

 

“What about your stuff?” As she asked this, Leighton opened the passenger side door, threw the slung bag onto the seat then took the box from Blake’s hold and into the backseat. The tall blonde only watched from her rooted spot.

 

“It’s taken care of,” she said as she paused by the door.

 

“Will you be coming back?” It was the question Blake never really thought she would ever ask. But there she was, at age 24, asking about her old neighbor’s return when she had been the one that had done all the leaving. So far.

 

“Of course. When I’m tired and all I want to do is sit. I’ll come then,” Leighton said seriously.

 

Though they were both adults, Blake found it hard to fully understand the woman in front of her. Even when they were nine year old neighbors, there were those times when Blake would only take Leighton for her word because she didn’t understand. She was too young and she just didn’t know. Leighton on the other hand, would seem to always be the grown up. So even when they’re well into their young adulthood, it was hard for the blonde to fully comprehend her old best friend. When Blake grasped something, it would feel as if Leighton was already onto something else.

 

“But will you be coming back  _here_?”

 

Honestly, Blake didn’t even know where ‘here’ was. All she knew was that wherever ‘here’ was located, she was going to be there. All she wanted to know was if Leighton would eventually be there, too.

 

“Maybe.” Leighton stepped out of the way and closed the door and walked back up to where Blake was.

 

“How will I know?”

 

The young brunette looked at Blake’s face and she saw in those cobalt eyes what must have been the emotions she had expressed in her eyes six years ago, nine. She didn’t show it, but inwardly, she smiled. They may still be in different parts of their lives and their paths were just still crossing so much as colliding to form as one, but they were getting closer. They were getting closer to get to each other and that’s all that mattered. It would take some time, but they would get to the ‘here’ that Blake had asked about.

 

Leighton stepped closer to the young blonde and smiled that dimpled smile that Blake never got tired of.

 

“Because the earth is round, Blake.” The taller woman returned the smile and seemed content with what she had just been told. “I promise, I’ll come back. Don’t worry.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t promise. Just do.”

 

“Okay, I don’t promise. I just will.”

 

They kept silent as they had been prone to do for each of their reunions. Blake cleared her throat and fixed her eyes on the brunette in front of her.

 

“It’s good to see you again, you know,” Leighton said.

 

And Blake did know. How could she not when it was the young brunette that had taken permanent residence in the forefront of the blonde’s mind. She’d driven herself into insanity and out again just thinking about the orphan that stood close to her.

 

“You, too.”

 

Blake took the glove off her right hand and held it out for Leighton to take. The brunette smiled kindly and took the proffered hand holding it close, their eyes never leaving the each other’s face.

 

The brunette’s ungloved hand felt cold as it touched Blake’s. It didn’t take long, however, until it warmed to the touch. Without breaking their eye contact, Leighton leaned forward, hands still holding each other, and wrapped her free arm around the taller woman. Blake quickly returned the hug. Sliding her arm out of the embrace, Leighton pulled away slightly, though their hands were still intact. She then swiftly placed a kiss on the other woman’s cheeks. Blake instantly closed her eyes.

 

Leighton stepped away and she slowly, regretfully, let go of the other woman’s hand. Those ocean blue eyes remained close even as the heat that emanated from Leighton’s body beside hers had disappeared.

 

She walked to the driver’s side of the car and waited until Blake opened her eyes again. When she did so, Leighton offered a shy smile and a small wave before opening the door.

 

“I’ll see you,” Blake said as her naked hand slowly rose to the air as it offered a lame wave.

 

Leighton only nodded before stepping inside and finally driving off leaving her old neighbor in front of their old apartment building some fifteen years ago.


	4. Part Four

Blake visited the old apartment building a year later after Leighton kissed her on the cheek. She had inquired the Superintendent if a Leighton Meester had returned and come back to 4D.

 

“Who’s asking?” the super asked, eyebrow raised. She was a pretty woman, Blake would admit. Dark hair and dark eyes, around her height. She looked intimidating, and Blake wondered if that was how she was able to acquire such a position. The super didn’t look all that much older than her.

 

“Um, Blake. Blake Lively.”

 

The super eyed her curiously before gesturing her to come in and have a seat. She walked to a file cabinet and pulled the second drawer from the top. Blake sat on the chair watching the super, whose name, she later learned was Sarah, rummage through a lot of old papers. After what seemed to have been ten, fifteen minutes (but were, in actuality, no more than two minutes), she pulled out an envelope.

 

“Here,” she said. “This was left for you. Leighton asked me to keep it until you showed up.”

 

“She knew I’d come back?”

 

“I suppose so. Anyway, I have some stuff to deal with in the back, I’ll give you some time to read it here. If I’m not back yet and you need to get going, have a good day.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Sure thing.”

 

Finally, Blake was able to give her full attention to the envelope Leighton had left for her. She inspected it and it was so thin, it felt as if there was nothing inside. Blake frowned at the idea.

 

She didn’t know when her hands started trembling, but she found herself having trouble opening the seal.

 

_B-_

_I’m doing what I couldn’t before, which is basically just about everything. We’ve never promised anything to each other so I won’t do anything to change that now. I don’t know when I’ll come back or if I will or if there’s anything to come back to. But I know that I miss you and I hope that you’re doing well for yourself. I won’t ask you to wait for me or do anything that makes you feel obligated because of me. I know about obligations and you don’t owe me anything._

_If you need to know anything, just know I’m trying to heal myself. I’ll get better, you’ll see. I’ll get better and I’ll be good enough for you. But until then, I’m going to help myself first._

_Never forget the Earth is round, Blake. I love you._

_-L_

 

There was a small picture, about the size of a driver’s license, tucked inside the envelope of Leighton standing beside the map Blake had given her all those years ago. She held it gently and stared at the brunette before putting both the note and the picture back.

 

“You’re still here?” Blake didn’t know for how long she sat in Sarah’s chair but her only response was a slight nod. “Well, is there anything I can do for you?” She was about to shake her head when she stopped herself.

 

“Actually, I’d like to rent the empty apartment upstairs.” Sarah smiled.

  
\--  
 

After making the proper business transactions with Sarah, Blake held the keys to 4D firmly in her hands, holding it into a fist. She didn’t know if this was a tragically bad idea or if it was the greatest thing she’d ever thought of, but she was already a lease and a month’s rent too late. Maybe this would be good. Maybe Leighton will come back here. Maybe.

 

Sliding the key in, Blake slowly twisted it and pushed on the door knob she knew of so well. It was a strange feeling of anticipation and emptiness that washed over her as she heard the door creak, letting it hit the wall.

 

It was dark and empty. But it didn’t feel lonely. She patted for a light switch on the wall when she felt cool metal touch her hand. Even in the darkness, Blake could see the gold flecks leftover from all the years of use. She finally turned the light on and stared at the faded gold chain. She looked away and carried her stuff to the counter leaving the door open and turning on several lights around the apartment.

 

After the apartment had been fully illuminated, she saw all the work she had to do all while the gaping door stared back at her, unrelenting. She’d only ever seen the door opened slightly so it was an eerie feeling having it opened so wide. It felt almost invasive. She could almost understand Leighton’s hesitations. Almost.

 

It took an entire week for Blake to fully move in. She had enlisted the help of the superintendent to get all of her belongings up to the fourth floor. She was able to strike up a friendship with the super, something she was grateful of. Being in love with your best friend that is anywhere but where you are can get taxing, and Blake needed someone to help keep her sane.

 

In the first couple of days, their stories were casual and safe. But by the time the week started to end, their conversations of favorites morphed into conversations about the old residents of 4D. Leighton ~~was~~   _is_  Blake’s favorite, after all.

 

“Yeah, Leighton was such a nice girl. Reserved and quiet, though. She was pretty witty when you listened to her,” Sarah said, describing how Leighton was when she started getting to know the tenants. The two women were sitting on Blake’s couch sipping on a couple bottles of soda, taking a break from all their hard work. “Good kid. You can’t help but love her, you know?”

 

Blake didn’t say a word. She knew, all right.

 

“Does she do this thing where she says stuff and it’s like it makes sense, but then when you start thinking about it, you feel you just don’t understand. Almost like she was mature for her age or something?” the blonde asked, steering the subject.

 

Sarah nodded her head as she laughed at how impeccably true Blake’s question was. With the other woman’s response, Blake felt better.

 

“So how do you know her?”

 

“I lived right across from her after we moved here when I was 9.”

 

“You two stay in touch?”

 

“In a way.”

 

“When was the last time you saw her?”

 

“Last year, right by the door,” she said lifting her arm and pointing to the general direction of the apartment door. Blake didn’t say anything after that and Sarah didn’t ask anymore.

 

The two of them sat quietly on Blake’s couch for some time before the super finally spoke.

 

“So how long have you been in love with her?” she asked right before she connected the bottle to her lips and took a sip.

 

“What?” Blake asked, feigning confusion. She knew exactly what Sarah was asking her.

 

“How long?” Sarah was relentless and she knew. When Blake figured that the super wasn’t going to budge, she couldn’t really keep pretending.

 

“Since we were nine years old.”

 

“That long?”

 

“Yeah. I didn’t know what it was at that time, but I know now.”

 

Sarah laughed then nodded. For understanding? Approval? Blake wasn’t sure. But the super nodded and patted Blake on the shoulder, almost like a mother would. She then took her now-empty bottle and carried it to the kitchen to put on the counter. The blonde only watched her go.

 

“C’mon, you have more stuff to get done.”

 

Blake drank the rest of the soda in one gulp, regretting it immediately as the carbonated liquid fizzed in her throat. She stood up and got back to work, the topic of Leighton soon forgotten.  

 

On the sixth day of Blake’s move-in, she solicited Sarah’s help one last time to help move her furniture and other bulky belongings.

 

“Thanks for helping out.”

 

“I’ll be downstairs staring at the wall pushing papers. This was a welcomed distraction.”

 

There was silence when Blake leaned on the kitchen counter and stared straight ahead at the opened door. She left almost every door and window open to absorb life back into the apartment again, all the life it may have lost during its vacancy; all the life it never got a chance to take in.

 

Blake found that she rather enjoyed the front door open every day.

 

Taking a break from all the moving and organizing, the two women stood by the kitchen counter and sipped their iced water. Suddenly Blake spoke.

 

“Sarah?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“How much free reign do I have on this apartment?” The super’s eyebrows connected.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“If I did some reconstruction. Some minor changes,” she said still looking intently at the doorway. Sarah followed the direction of where Blake’s eyes landed but only saw the door.

 

“Just don’t burn my building down or I might have to evict you,” she replied with a laugh.

 

“Great.”

 

“Why? What are you planning?”

 

“You’re not gonna sue me for anything right?”

 

“Well, it depends,” the super said, sobering up. She wasn’t sure what her new tenant was getting into and hopefully it wasn’t anything that would be too outrageous, she would have to kick her out. And they’d only been friends for a couple of weeks. It’d be a waste.

 

“I’ll pay for everything.”

 

“Then, no.”

 

“Okay, come help me do something.”

 

Blake walked to the door and Sarah followed, very much confused. The tall blonde stopped abruptly and turned around.

 

“I want you to close the door and chain it. Don’t lock it, just chain it.”

 

“Blake, you live here. Why would I lock you out?”

 

“You’re not.”

 

“Then why would you lock yourself out?”

 

“I’m not. I’m freeing myself up.”

 

Before Sarah could even question what she meant, Blake spoke again. “I’m not getting sued, right?”

 

“Right.”

 

“Okay, close the door and chain it.”

 

Sarah did as she was told and closed the door. Blake stood on the welcome mat as she heard the chain from behind the door.

 

“Now what?” came a muffled question behind the door.

 

“Now, you open it.”

 

“But it’s chained.”

 

“I know.”

 

Sarah opened the door and looked out over the chain.

 

“Now what?”

 

“I need you to step back as far as possible. You’re not going to kick me out and sue me, right?”

 

“I might now.” The tall brunette, with nothing but determination in her eyes disregarded the super’s comment.

 

“Step back and watch your face.”

 

Blake then stood back in the three or five steps it took her to get to the other door as Sarah took cover several yards away from the door. Before Sarah could react to what was going on, her new tenant had then kicked the door away, effectively getting rid of the chain from off the door.

 

The door vehemently swung and hit the back wall with a loud thud before slowly making its way back near the blonde culprit. Blake stood proudly by the doorstep and inspected both the door and the frame – how she had successfully gotten rid of the chain. She smiled triumphantly, grazing her long fingers on the wooden frame, feeling under her hands where the chain and the lock used to be. She smiled once again.

 

“You’re going to have to replace that.”

 

“Yeah, okay.”

 

Sarah walked over to where Blake was making her inspections and after a moment or so, she spoke. “You know, you could’ve just gotten a screw driver and taken it out.”

 

It wasn’t ever about getting rid of the chain; it wasn’t ever about getting the door to open wider than the measly five inches of space they were given when she was nine years old. No. This was never even about her. It was about the one person she wanted to keep close even as she, herself, ended up going away more times than she wanted to count. She’d wanted to change everything, back when she was 9. And even when she was 18, she still wanted things to be different.

 

So even if she could’ve just gotten a screw driver and taken the chain down, it wouldn’t be the same.  

 

“I know,” she said looking up from her inspection, with a smile that etched her face, not quite reaching her eyes. “But I’ve always wanted to do this ever since I was younger.”


	5. Part Five

It would be two more years before Blake would see Leighton again. She was 27.

 

It was an unassuming Saturday afternoon spent lounging in her apartment, reading on a random novel she had picked out of her bookshelf. It was so domestic and homey, she only wished that Leighton was with her. She had been wishing for the last three, six, nine years. She would keep doing so until it came true.

 

Placing her second cup of tea on her lips, Blake heard a soft knock at the door. She didn’t move out of place, but her heart skipped a beat and wondered for the briefest of moments that, perhaps, her wishes had been granted.

 

But no, it couldn’t be.

 

Blake had learned to be hopeful, but she’d also learned to be realistic. And this was just another Saturday.

 

There was another knock, this time a little louder and Blake jumped to her feet almost spilling her tea. She placed the cup on the table and shuffled towards the door.

 

“I’m coming,” she yelled after she heard another set of knocks.

 

After unlocking the bolt, Blake hurriedly twisted the knob and swung the door open to see the one person she had been waiting to see stand by her door for years. Leighton stepped back in surprise as the door in front of her, the one she knew so well to almost always be shut, was opened wide with Blake standing right beside it.

 

How ‘bout that, wishes do come true.

 

“Hi,” she whispered in a huff. For a fleeting second, she was transported back to when she was 9 and when she was 18, and when she was 24 - all the times when she was too mesmerized by Leighton’s subtle, unique beauty. She was just glad people found monosyllabic salutations for moments like these, so when their breath was stolen out of their lungs because of such occasions, she could still cling onto the illusion of self-control.

 

 “Hi.” Leighton looked worn and tired, with her expressive brown eyes telling her stories more than her lips ever could. Leighton was the same age, but she looked older, more mature.  Whatever age she was, however, Blake found her beautiful, exquisite.

 

“You’re here.”

 

“I’m here.”

 

“You have your map,” she said, her eyes travelling to Leighton’s hand that, indeed, carried a folded pamphlet of a map.

 

“I go everywhere with it.”

 

Silence ensued. But it was a companionable one – one that they had been used to all those years ago. Leighton shuffled her feet and looked down, trying to process her words carefully, standing guard out of habit. Blake knew this, you see. This was how it worked between them. Leighton may have watched the words she said, but they were as genuine as they come. Blake couldn’t fault her for that.

 

“I’m, uh…” she began, but faltered. She took a deep breath and looked at Blake hopefully, wanting the tall blonde in front of her to understand what she was trying to say. Blake gazed back lovingly and offered a smile of her support with Leighton mirroring the gesture. She tried again.

 

“I’m done walking, Blake. I want to sit.” Blake smiled wider and pushed the door open some more, letting the woman before her enter. Leighton accepted graciously and slowly walked into the room.

 

“Then we’ll sit,” she said before closing the door.

 

They sat side by side, looking out the window that encapsulated what the world had to offer them within four panels. The life and experiences that both women did have, but without each other. Years of walking and sleeping and sleepwalking from one day to the next. They all blurred, fizzing out into white noise.

 

Blake unfolded the map she had given Leighton all those years ago, seeing how dog-eared and creased it had become over the years, with multiple stickers that dotted several places all over the globe.

 

“You travel to all these places?” She asked, her eyes inspecting where the red stickers took residence.

 

“Yeah. I still have a lot more to go, though.” As she had said it, Blake gave off an involuntary shiver, fear in her heart that Leighton would leave again for god knows how long. She could see her old neighbor watch her from the corner of her eye, but she pretended not to see so she looked at the stickers that landed on so many different parts of the world she didn’t even know about.

 

Blake chuckled away her insecurity and folded back the map into its original folds. “All your stickers are red.”

 

“Because yours is blue,” she replied simply.

 

Another round of silence enveloped them as they savored each other’s company after years of absence.

 

“You see everything you ever dreamed of?” Blake asked, finally turning to face the woman beside her.

 

“I saw enough. For now.”

 

“I wish I could’ve been there.” It was a confession that the younger woman didn’t want to reveal, but it exposed itself before Blake could figure out what had happened. She stared ahead and picked up her cup of tea, ignoring the look the other woman was giving her.

 

Leighton waited until the tall blonde placed her cup of tea back on the table before gently lifting the woman’s hand and holding it between hers before placing it on her lap. Cobalt eyes only looked at her with a hint of disappointment in them. She gave a crooked smile before she spoke.

 

“You were.” The young brunette stated so matter-of-factly, there was no doubt in Blake’s mind. The taller woman spread out her captive hand to entwine her fingers with Leighton’s. She looked at their joined hands and sighed contentedly. She wasn’t sure if this was the intricate works of her imagination or if Leighton really was sitting beside her, holding her hand. The other part of the domestic equation that she’d always wanted.

 

“What about you?” Leighton started after moments of quiet passed them. “How’s settling down and being, I don’t know, stationary?”

 

“It feels…settled. Domestic. Ordinary. It seems dull, but I like it.”

 

“Do you ever get lonely?”  Leighton asked, her head tilted, eyes focused on the blonde beside her wondering if the answer to this question would break her heart.

 

“Sometimes.” Blake still faced toward the window, away from Leighton’s searching eyes. She had to keep some semblance of composure and self-control. She feared that if she looked, all of this would become the cruelest trickery her mind had ever played. She didn’t want Leighton to be a figment, she wanted her to be real.

 

“I wish I could’ve been there to keep you company.”

 

“You were.” Before she lost her nerve, Blake started again. “I’m glad-I’m glad you’re here, Leighton.”

 

“Me, too.”

 

Leighton looked up at Blake who was still entranced with everything the world had to offer them out there.

 

“Blake?” she started, her gaze firm on the blonde beside her.

 

“Leighton?” Her face still looking out.

 

“You took the chain off the door.” Finally, Blake moved to look back at the woman beside her.

 

“I did.” She stared out ahead of her again smiling, remembering the list of events that led to how the door lost its chain.

 

“Did you know I was coming back?”

 

“You said you will, didn’t you? I trusted that.”

 

“But…how’d you know I actually would?”

 

“You really want to know?” Leighton only nodded.

 

Blake moved her entwined hand away and placed her arm around the smaller woman tightening her hold, caging her in as her long fingers locked on each other. Meanwhile, Leighton just let herself be pulled closer, placing her hand on Blake’s hip and her head on her chest, just below her shoulders, a geographically accurate location to listen to the other woman’s heart beat.

 

Being inside Blake’s arms, the brunette realized, was something she would never take for granted. She didn’t mind being locked into those strong, yet gentle arms if it meant being able to stay there with her. After all the years of being imprisoned in the tight grips of her mother and of the old apartment that refused to set her free, she found some form of freedom.   
  
 The last eighteen years of their lives had not been for naught. They learned so much about themselves, and ultimately, about each other, that they needed almost two decades of their lives to be on the same page of that little story Fate was writing. But even so, the two decades that passed never sat with them comfortably, you see, because neither was in each other’s arms and that, well, that simply felt wrong.

 

It was strange and funny and amazingly coincidental but not at all because it was Fate all along that the freedom, the absolute freedom Leighton had been searching for in what seemed like all her life, had been in the arms of her old neighbor across the hall when she was only nine years old.

 

“Because, Leighton,” she started, a smile already playing on her lips. “The Earth is round.”

 

It took some time for the tall blonde to believe it and to trust it and to keep faith in it. But when she was finally sure, there hadn’t been any such doubt in Blake’s part about Leighton coming back ‘here’.  

 

It was never about coming back ‘here’ where they started from, in this old apartment that the other woman used to live in. She said it herself. The Earth is round, you see.  Blake’s world was round. And as she had learned at a young age, because the world was round, she ended up where she started.

 

The thing is, you see, that Blake never started from ‘here’. She started from ‘her’. And as it had been proven time and again, according to the Earth’s funny little shape that made the things Leighton said actually be true, she ended up back to ‘her’.


End file.
